This has to be the toughest "race" tire I've used. While not puncture proof it resists them really well and if you do get a puncture this tire seems to seal better than others I've used. I average a puncture every two or three rides during New England's winters, which have to have some of the worst imaginable cycling conditions I'm guessing, but I haven't had to call for rescue or resort to installing a tube roadside as the tire has either sealed itself or a Dynaplug has worked its magic. The sidewalls are much stronger than other brands' tires and bicyclerollingresistance.com's test results reflect this, the tread also has some of the best puncture resistance results for a race tire. I've probably gotten four punctures on the rear tire so far but it is still usable.
This might not be the fastest tire (they're definitely not slow) but I feel as if they come closest to achieving that elusive balance of speed, durability and grip that most tires fall short on in some way. While not the fastest they actually do feel fast, I'm assuming this is a result of the somewhat stiff rubber compound used, and provide a lot of feedback at higher pressures to the point where I kept thinking that I should pull over and check for punctures the first few rides I took on them. Seriously it seems like I can feel every little imperfection and pebble on the road and it always feels like I'm going two to three mph faster than my actual speed. I was previously running Vittoria N.EXT TLRs which smooth out imperfections (I wrote a glowing review on these and got an irreparable flat shortly thereafter) so the difference was very noticeable but enjoyable once I got used to it. They do feel a bit harsh in comparison but they're not uncomfortable, if you like the feeling of speed I highly recommend this tire if you can get it at a good sale price.
Installation - Bought these as my first tubeless tires to mount on my tubeless-ready rims. After watching some videos and talking with friends, I decided to try to mount them myself. Overall it wasn't too difficult, I mounted them dry (no sealant) and pumped in some air to get the beads to set, then deflated, removed the valve cores, added sealant and re-inflated. I used a compressor with a presta chuck which made it much easier to get the beads to seat. I also left the tires in the sun for a bit to soften them before mounting, which others had recommended. Expect a bit of sealant to ooze out over the first couple of days as it creeps into any gaps between tire and rim, and then after that they'll lose pressure a bit quicker than a tubed set-up, but nothing crazy. For example, if I top off on Tuesday and ride Tuesday/Thursday, I don't need to add air Thursday, but will top off again before my Sat or Sun ride.
Road feel - I really liked the way these felt on the bike, I moved from 28c to 30c and typically had them aired to 70psi, but could have gone lower. The bike felt great (Wilier Cento 10NDR) and these tires really made the bike feel complete, plush but not sluggish or sloppy.
Durability - the real kicker with these tires is that I rode them 3,000 miles without a single flat. Once, at the 2,800 mile mark, I had a puncture that continued to leak slowly and required a plug (at home), and the next 200+ miles they were fine. I'm in Los Angeles and ride a mix of our city and mountain roads, and some dirt here and there. With a gran fondo coming up I decided not to push it and removed the Pirelli's but had to replace with the Schwalbe G-One Speed tires as the Pirelli's were completely out of stock everywhere and backordered for months. I still have a pair on order and may replace the Schwalbe's when they come in, or hang onto them for when the Schwalbe's wear out. I will do a separate review of those after a few hundred miles.
THESE THINGS ARE AWESOME! Best tires I've ridden on (I'll probably do 2,500-3,000 miles this year). I use the 28mm when I can get them.
I've used several tires in the last few years (Continental Grand Prix 4-Season, Vittoria Corsa Control G2.0 TLR, Pirelli Cinturato Velo). The 4 seasons are great for tubed riding in areas where you need puncture protection. The Corsa Controls were nice and felt great but I had some bubbling in the side wall and replaced them with Pirelli Cinturato tires. They didn't roll very fast but worked great for winter riding. When spring rolled around, I wanted some faster tires I could put on carbon wheels and just swap wheels instead of swapping tubeless tires.
These tires have excellent grip and I can feel a distinct difference between the Cinturato and the P Zero Race. I went with the TLR instead of the SL because I have a lot of roads where punctures are possible. I've had a few issues where I got weird screws in my tires and lost a lot of sealant but I was about a mile from home so was able to continue and address at the house. I have a little trouble getting them to seat on my Reynolds carbon wheels but that may have something to do with the wheels rather than the tires. The Cinturatos had no trouble seating on my Roval aluminum wheels. So I don't want to blame the tires specifically. But once mounted, they work great.
If you haven't tried Pirelli tires before, I'd highly suggest you give them a try. You may find that you didn't know how much you were missing!
I have a couple of sets of these Pirelli P zero's on a couple of bikes and I really like them. I have nothing to complain about or negative to say.
I also have some Schwalbe pro one's on another bike and on an extra set of wheels and they are also very good. I think between the Pirelli's the Schwalbe's and the Continentals, you cant go wrong. They are all very good.
I was excited to purchase the Pirelli tires at such a discount. I have use Pirelli tires for several years and to find them discontented at such a low price was a surprise !
I received my order within a few days and I am pleased with the Bikes Tires Direct .
I said these felt slightly harsh but I realized that I've only used these in temperatures below 40 degrees until recently so it's wasn't exactly a fair assessment. 50 degrees must be the point where they start to feel much more smooth and supple, and of course just about everything feels harsh when temps get below 35, can't wait to see how they ride in the summer. Also, not that it should matter much, but they are really good looking tires as well and inflate as wide as expected (just under 30mm with 23mm internal width wheels).
I transitioned from my Schwalbe pro one tube to these tubeless Pirelli's. I liked the the Schwalbe's but wanted to switch to tubeless and heard great things about the P Zero tires. These tire's don't disappoint. I have the 26mm mounted DT Swiss Arc 1100. These tires are fast and very comfortable on the road. The only downside is these seem to wear quickly. I've put less than 2500 miles on these tires and they already look like they need to be replaced.
Installed on new Boyd Prologue 44 wheelset, hooked rim sidewalls. Needed 2 plastic smooth end levers to get the last 5-6 inches over the rims with very hard effort. Initial air fill with floor pump easily seated tires, but both tires lost all air (no sealer yet) in 6-8 hours, thought I would need to pry off & return. Added 1 1/2 oz of Orange Seal and both tires held air without pressure loss for 4 days. Casings must be really porous without sealer. 1st ride impression....noticeably harder ride than prior Panaracer Race A tires, but grip is a definite improvement. Inflated 85psi F, 90psi R. Rider at 175 lbs. 4 stars for install difficulty and initial ride feel. We'll see if that improves with ride time.
I've been using these tires for two seasons.
They install tubeless easily on my Campy Bora 2way fit rims. I can seat them with a floor pump every time.
I have been through 2 sets of tires, the rear lasts about 2500 miles and the front much more. I don't try to get every last mile out of them, so some people may get more mileage.
My rims are 19 mm internal width and these measure about 26.5mm when installed and reach about 28mm after several hundred miles. I haven't had any punctures and they don't seem to cut up in the tread much.
I trust them, which is important. Seem to ride very nice and fast too. They don't lose much pressure over several days. Usually the weight is between 265 and 280 grams, which is below the listed weight.
A nice tire that does tubeless well.
I highly recommend this particular tire for tubeless setup since I can just mount it with my bare hand and have pretty good puncture resistance compared to it's weight/rolling resistance. If you are someone not just looking for pure fast/race tire, this is a good all rounder as it provides very good puncture protection, easy enough to setup (may still need a electric pump) while it is still very fast and last reasonably long.
I absolutely love the road feel of these tires, very tubular-like, but I've had bad luck with unrepairable punctures. Two rides on a brand new really expensive tire, with Orange Seal and armed with Dynaplugs, I took a small piece of glass in the tread. It would not seal, so I inserted a plug. That sort of worked until I put air back in the tire. It would not hold air beyond about 35-40 pounds. Fortunately I was at the start of my ride, so I limped back home.
I think I'm done with road tubeless - the pressures (unlike MTB and gravel tires) seem to be too high to effectively seal as intended.
These Pirelli's are my first experience with road tubeless, and generally I'm really happy with these tires. They mount well with reasonable effort, seat immediately, and hold air really well. The road feel is amazing -- it's like riding tubulars. They are fast rolling and corner amazingly well.
The downside is durability. After just a couple hundred miles I have a lot of micro cuts, some that have oozed sealant. I have not yet suffered air loss on the road, but my buddy running the same tires has had to insert two bacon strips so far with the same mileage.
All-in-all, great tires, but be prepared for roadside repairs and know that you may need to replace them sooner than expected.
Fast and slow rides, alone and with competitive friends. Mine are 700x28.
Mounted on Campy Bora WTO tubeless rims. Put bead wax on the bead , popped them on very easy with one plastic lever, pumped them up and seated with standard floor pump ( didn't even remove the valve core ) .
Measure 28.4 mm after 1500 miles on a 19 mm internal width rim. Still some miles left on rear and front will go twice as long. Ride nice at 75 r, 70 f, and I am 168 lbs.
I have them in para sidewalls and like the look on a titanium bike.
No punctures so far.
By the way, I know we all have an anecdotal story like this , but I tried the new Conti gp5000s tr and punctured the rear on the second ride, sealant wouldn't hold it for more than one ride so I patched it and put in my spare bin.
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR has a lot going for it !
I bought these after having ridden Goodyear Eagle F1 tubeless for the last 2 years and trying Schwalbe Pro 1's. The Goodyears were a nice tire and an inexpensive way to test out tubeless. I wanted to try something else and tried the Schwables first. However, I could not mount them on my Campganolo Eurus wheels no matter what trick I tried. So, I bought the Pirellis and they fit easily, pumped up without the need for an air boost to seal the tires and have a great feel on the road. I still need some more time to get a good feel for how they work on the different road surfaces. Finally, I was impressed with the packaging. It had all of the info I needed to set the right pressure based on my weight and the wheel width. Only knock against them is that they are a bit pricey.
In an effort to smooth out the ride on my road bike, I decided to try tubeless tires, allowing me to drop from 105 psi down to 80 psi.
By far, my favorite road tire is the Conti GP 5k - roll great, minimal flats, but I heard nothing but horror stores attempting to mount the road tubeless version, consensus was to try the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR. Mounting was very straightforward, and after about 100 miles, there was little to no loss of pressure between rides (2 or 3 days).
While I do enjoy the smoother ride, the P Zero does not seem to roll nearly as nicely as the GP 5k, after just over 500 issue-free miles on the P Zeros.
I'm running the 28mm tubeless on HED Vanquish RC4 Pro Carbon Discs. This tire/wheel combo has not disappointed, i ride these hard on long mountain descents, and over multiple days of sitting the tires hardly lose air. To add, I have had no flats after 1000 miles on bad roads where i ride in Bogota, Colombia (road debris, glass, unavoidable pot holes...etc). the rear tire is showing some wear. I will purchase these again. Also running the 45mm Pirelli's (hardpack) on my gravel, only about 100 miles thus far and really nice...
I've been running Schwalbe Pro One tubeless for about 3 years now. Decided to switch it up and try something new, so I ordered these. They were an easy install on my ENVE 5.6 SES (rim brake) wheels, sealed on the first try with just a chamber pump. I've got a couple of hundred miles on them now, and they are very good - traction is good wet or dry; they feel "fast" (though I seriously doubt I can actually tell); and no flats yet.
That said, they do feel a little less supple than the Schwalbes. I'll see how they last, but if I were replacing them today I'd go back to the Pro Ones.
First time tubeless user. I mounted the 26mm Pirelli P Zero TLR tires on a pair of BTLOS carbon tubeless rims. Mounting was easy maybe because I used some soapy water. The rims were tubeless ready, (no holes) so no tape was needed. I was pleasantly surprised that both tires instantly seated using my decades old Silca floor pump. After letting them sit a few minutes I pulled the valve core and added 3 ounces of Orange seal to each one. They have over 1500 miles without a single issue. Ride is good and for these uncertain times I already ordered a second pair for when these wear out. As a bonus they hold air extremely well for days on end. I would definitely recommend them.
These were my 1st tubeless tires. I had these tires on my Bontrager Aeolus Pro 37 rims. The sealed with just my floor pump, no compressor was necessary. I ran them at 75 psi for my 145 lb body weight. However in 9 weeks I had 4 flats. 1 Sidewall cuts in both front and rear tires, one in the middle of the tread on the rear and one staple puncture in the rear tire that self sealed with Orange Sealant. I had to plug the other punctures. I had 4 flats in 9 weeks, so I am NO longer a fan of these tires. I used to run Panaracer Race D Evo 4 tire with tubes and maybe had one flat a year.
After trying out two other sets of tires, I decided to go with these for my 3,842-mile cross country trip (plus another 700-800 training miles pre-trip). These tires were put through every imaginable condition - glass, gravel, potholes, interstate shoulders filled with tire blowouts, downpours, wet descents on fresh asphalt. Zero flats, great grip in slippery conditions. They also hold air better than any tubeless tire I've used, losing maybe 5 psi overnight.
I have not tried taking them off the rims, but they were not difficult to mount with an air compressor (on Roval Terra CLX wheels).
